Metal Halide Troubleshooting

[lousybreed]

I bought a metal halide fixture off of Craigslist over 3 mons ago. He claimed the XM (150w DE) bulbs were approximately a year old. It has been running fine. When I bought it I cleaned it out and made sure everything was running good. Cooling fans push a ton of air. Today I was watching my reef tank and then boom, one of my lights goes off. I have no experience with bulb failure on MH lighting. Could the bulb be bad or is it the ballast? Anyone with experience with this? I know most people underestimate how old their bulbs are, just wondering if it's a tired bulb?

 

[zsuman101]

when you brought it home did you wipe off the bulbs with a dry cloth, skin oils will make them explode, zsu

 

[lousybreed]

Yeah they were clean. I saw the precautions about that. I am going to switch the bulbs around in the fixture and see if the on/off happens to the same bulb or does it happen to the same ballast.

 

[ca1ore]

Problem is probably the bulb, but it may also be the ballast.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

When you say boom... do you mean there was a boom, or did the light just shut off?


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[ca1ore]

hyperbole?

 

[lousybreed]

Sorry. I meant it turned off instantly. No explosion. So it sounds like a bulb? Should I just order new bulbs? I still want to make sure my ballast is ok. I am going to switch the bulbs and see if the problem persists with either the bulb or ballast.

 

[jda]

You need a new bulb anyway, so that is a good place to start.

Time on fixtures and bulbs are like miles an cars - always highway miles... so don't trust what anybody tells you.

 

[lousybreed]

Thanks for all the help. I switched the bulbs around today and the fixture worked perfectly. Go figure. I think the one bulb might have wiggled loose a bit from the contacts. Either way I will be getting new bulbs. Phoenix 14k's for sure!!

 

[lousybreed]

Well today I said f*ck it. Ordered dual 250w SE Radions, cayman sun pendants, luxcore e-ballast with the 250w super lumen kick! Go big or go home.